


The Grubsitter

by OnyxSardonyx



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Ancestors, Fluff, Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 17:11:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2858549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnyxSardonyx/pseuds/OnyxSardonyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your name is Meulin, you are four sweeps old, and tonight is the night that will change your life forever.<br/>You don't know that yet, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Grubsitter

**Author's Note:**

> Christmas present for my matesprit. Merry 12th perigee, my love!
> 
> Vaguely inspired by [this page](http://www.paradoxspace.com/mother-grub/2) of ParadoxSpace.

 

 

Your lusus wakes you at dusk; you snuggle into her fur sleepily, but she nudges you and gets up.

"Okay, okay," you say. "Give me a few minutes?"

She licks your cheek with both of her tongues and leaves the cave. You sit up, blink, brush your hair out of your face and yawn widely.

Your name is Meulin, you are four sweeps old, and tonight is the night that will change your life forever.

You don't know that yet, though.

Pounce de Leon has left the cave to look for food and you'll catch up with her in a minute. You retrieve your claws and put on your hunting armour slowly. You're still sleepy from the day, shadows of nightmares haunting your mind because you are four sweeps old and you have still not managed to get a sopor cocoon. You're used to the nightmares, but they slow you down in the evening.

The light of the moons manages to vitalise you a little as you step out of your cave. You brush back your hair.

"Leon?" you call. Your lusus meows, and you follow the sound into the forest. "Wait up, I'm coming."

Your footsteps are light and completely silent as you track the path your lusus took. She left the forest and went to the grassland; she prefers hunting there. You're still small enough to hide in the long grass with her, but you know that as you grow, you'll probably end up preferring to hunt in the forest.

You duck and run towards your lusus as soon as you leave the forest. You catch up with her; she licks your neck and purrs softly as you reach up to scratch the fur behind her ears.

Then she's quite suddenly gone from your side. You go down on your knees and watch through the long grass. She's spotted something; you'll wait for her until she returns.

You can't see well through the grass, but she picks up something in her mouth and turns around.

Something... bright red.

You watch intently as your lusus trots towards you.

But before she can reach you and you can have a closer look at the thing she's caught, she is suddenly attacked by a very tall, very obviously adult troll.

An adult troll with a large, dangerous looking saw.

You cower back into the grass instinctively, so you miss what's happening. You hear your lusus's high-pitched wail of pain, though, and when you dare to look again, there is olive blood everywhere.

"Leon!" You want to get up, but your instinctive fear of the adult troll is holding you back. She's tall and dangerous and she has a saw and if she sees you, all your skill at hunting animals will be useless to you. Your best bet is to stay put until she leaves.

She bends down and picks up the red thing Leon found, hugs it to her chest and turns around, away from you. She hurries away quickly, and you wait until she's well away from you until you move.

"Leon," you whisper as you slip to your lusus's side. She doesn't react to your voice. You gingerly touch the gaping cut on her neck, your fingers coming away sticky with blood the same colour as your own. You bite your lip and swallow your tears.

You raise your head and watch the troll walk away from you.

She is going to _pay_ for murdering your lusus.

 

 

You trace her steps and, once you realise that she's not very careful about obscuring her trail, return to your hive to pick up some supplies. You might be tracing her for several nights before getting the chance to enact your revenge.

You know how to be quiet and go unnoticed, so you follow her within a reasonable distance. You observe her habits and try to figure out what the red thing was that Leon found, the thing she killed her over.

One of the first thing you notice about her is that she's a jadeblood, and what's more - a rainbow drinker. She seems to be bothered very little by daylight, indeed she seems to be travelling by day rather than night, which makes your task very difficult. You manage to keep the worst of the light off you by making a hat out of some blue fabric; nevertheless, you are very grateful when your quarry moves into the woods and you can hide from the deadly rays in the shade of the trees. You're utterly exhausted from travelling by day and your skin is feeling itchy and tender in the places where it was exposed. For the first two nights, you fall into a light sleep whenever she stops, waking up every time just in time to see her leave again. It takes several nights to get adjusted to her routine, and then a few more to work up the courage to approach her by night, when she is sleeping.

You've snuck up to her before, when she was sleeping, only close enough to see her a little more clearly and to figure out what the red thing she's so protective of is. You were surprised to see that it is a grub - newly hatched and a colour you never even thought existed. Just the thought makes you cringe - for some reason, just seeing the red of his coat screams danger to you.

You're not sure if that's because he is dangerous, or because he attracts danger. And he seems to do the latter quite a lot - in the days since you've tracked him and his jadeblood guardian, they were attacked by lusi or other trolls almost constantly, and you've found a grudging sort of respect for her abilities inside you. She fights well. You could learn a lot from her.

But she killed your lusus, and you haven't forgotten that for a second. You are going to make her pay for that.

And one night, you get the best opportunity for that.

She's travelled by day again; you traced her, keeping hidden and silent. By the time she decided to rest for the day and get ready for the night, you found you were not tired at all.

You're hiding, sitting in the low branches of a tree and looking down on her. She's eating some meat (she's not been hunting since you've started following her; your own supplies are running out rapidly, and you wonder how she still has food) and feeding her grub with sap from a plant she's picked on her way. She's very alert, and you suspect even her sleep is light, but you know how to go unnoticed.

She prepares a small nest of blankets for her grub and lies down next to it, covered only with a single frayed blanket. You've seen her patch it up at other times when she's rested, but tonight she just seems to want to sleep.

You wait until her eyes are closed and her breath has evened out and she hasn't moved for a few minutes, and then you climb down the tree, arm your claws and silently approach them.

The grub goes first, you think, because he will die anyway without her to protect him. And she seems to care for him a lot, which you don't understand at all. But he has to go, and then hopefully you can slice her throat in her sleep and make your way home, knowing your lusus's death has been avenged.

But as you approach the two, you notice something that could easily impede your plans.

The grub is awake.

You crouch down, a mere few feet from his little makeshift bed of blankets, and he wiggles his legs and looks at you. He coos softly. The jadeblood seems fast asleep.

You'll have to kill him fast, or else he will start screaming and wake her up.

You approach some more, and his eyes are fixed on you. Even in the dim light of the moons, you can see that he is red, bright red, far brighter than any rustblood. It just feels so incredibly wrong to you.

You show him your claws. He looks up at you, wide eyed, and his little mouth falls open. Even his teeth are blunt. What is _wrong_ with him? What _is_ he?

You kneel down beside him and place your sharp claws against his body. One slice, and he will be in pieces. He's still staring at you and he's not scared, instead, he reaches out with his tiny wiggler feet and touches one of your claws.

You've not moved, but he manages to cut his leg anyway. A small drop of bright red blood oozes out and he looks at it, then up at you, his tiny face contorting into a mask of surprise and pain.

Oh no, if he's going to scream now it'll all be over for you and really you should cut him apart right now to prevent that from happening -

But somehow, you can't.

Instead, you find yourself retracting your claws and reaching for him with your bare hands.

"Shh," you whisper, "it's just a tiny little cut, you're fine, here -" You swipe your thumb over his cut, his blood bright crimson against your grey skin. "See, all better."

He breathes a sound that's not quite a wail.

"You're so weird," you whisper, casting a quick glance at the sleeping jadeblood. You lean back on your heels and carefully run your fingers through his hair. He looks up at you and quite suddenly, smiles.

You are overwhelmed with sudden emotions. How did you think you could kill this innocent little grub? He's done nothing except exist, and you see why the fierce jadeblood is so protective of him because he is quite possibly the most adorable thing you have ever seen.

"What's your name, hm?" You run a finger along his cheek and he coos, a little bit too loudly for your taste. "Shhh! I didn't mean that, you don't have to tell me -"

He laughs and snaps at your finger. You allow him to take it into his mouth, his blunt little teeth doing nothing to your thick skin, and are surprised to feel him suck on your finger. He smiles contently and curls up, around your hand, and you carefully reach for him and pick him up with your free hand. He's big enough that you can't hold him easily with one hand, and you take him into your lap and pet his hair. All thoughts of killing have gone from your mind completely.

He holds your hand to him with surprising strength, and you smile down at him as you let him suck on your finger and keep petting his hair. He seems to be getting tired, and you're not going to keep him from sleeping - but you will look after him as he sleeps.

You're still smiling down at him, his eyes shut and his little legs digging into your hand, when the jadeblood stirs.

You stay where you are, unable to move without waking the little grub, but you are filled with fear as she opens her eyes, takes in your silent form holding her grub, and draws her saw, crouching down, ready to attack.

For a few moments, she stays like that, teeth bared, skin burning a bright white. Then she relaxes, her skin turning back to grey.

"You're just a child," she says. "What are you doing here?"

You blush lightly and curl your arms around the sleeping wiggler.

"You killed my lusus," you say softly.

For some reason, this makes the jadeblood smile. "And you thought you'd come and avenge her?"

You avoid her gaze, eyes dropping down. You run your fingers through his hair silently.

"Your lusus tried to -"

"She was only looking for food," you say, looking up again, "and she probably thought this," you nod at the little grub, "would make a nice present for me."

The jadeblood growls and you shrink away from her gaze instinctively. "I wouldn't have harmed him," you whisper. "I couldn't, not ever."

She relaxes a little.

"What is he, anyway?" you say hesitantly. "Where is his lusus?"

She looks down at him, then back at you.

"He's a mutant," she says. "He was abandoned. I don't think he ever had a lusus. I'm his lusus now."

You stare at her.

"How can that be?" you say.

She just shrugs.

"Why didn't you just leave him, like all the other wigglers that don't have a lusus?"

She looks at you, her gaze deep and penetrating, and you look down again, but not for long.

"You know why," she says.

You look at her, then let your gaze drop to the sleeping wiggler.

"Yeah," you mutter, "I think I do."

The jadeblood looks at you for a long time, deliberating.

"What's your name?" she asks.

"Meulin," you say, smiling vaguely.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Meulin. My name is Porrim."

You nod. She takes up her bag and flips it open.

"Are you hungry, Meulin?"

You nod again, a little hesitant. She takes out some meat and holds it out to you. You reluctantly stop stroking the little wiggler's hair and take the food she's offering you.

"Thanks," you whisper.

She pulls a face and puts down her bag. "And that's all my supplies used up, I'm afraid," she says. "I'll have to go hunting in the morning."

"You don't need to," you say immediately. "I can hunt plenty, and I'm not tired."

"Why would you hunt for us, though?" Porrim asks.

You don't really know the answer. You just half-shrug.

She smiles warmly and holds out her hands. You hesitate, then carefully lift the grub up (with one hand again, because he still doesn't seem to want to let go of your finger) and hand it to her. She holds him like her arms were meant for it, and the soft smile on her face is the most loving you have ever seen.

"He won't let go of my finger," you say softly, tugging a little. The tiny grub squeals, bites down on your finger with his blunt little teeth and curls his legs around your hand to keep you there.

Porrim smiles. "Yes, he does that. He must really like you."

You manage to extract your finger with a little difficulty. As soon as he realises he doesn't have it to suck on anymore, he starts to cry.

Even his tears are bright red. You can't look away, fascinated now instead of disgusted.

Porrim rocks him a little bit, hums tunelessly at him, and eventually gives him her own finger to suck on. He stops crying and curls in to her.

She looks up at you and smiles. "Go and hunt," she says, "We'll still be here when you come back."

You get to your feet nimbly. "Even if you weren't, your tracks are really obvious," you say. "I've been following you for nights."

She smiles, her fangs showing. "I don't really care about obscuring tracks," she says. "I can defend myself."

You smile back at her. "Yes, I saw. I'll be back in a few hours. You can get some sleep."

She takes her blanket and drapes it over her shoulder before lying down. You have a feeling that your conversation with her is over, so you simply retrieve your claws, equip them and vanish into the forest.

 

 

You come back a few hours later, several dead hopbeasts and songbeasts hanging from your belt. You're almost dropping from weariness by the time you reach Porrim and her grub. She's awake; she smiles up and rises to greet you when you stumble towards her, most of your stealth ruined by the fact you are so tired you could fall asleep on the spot. You yawn widely and clumsily unclasp the dead animals from your belt, handing them to her.

"You should sleep," Porrim says. "It's going to be day soon."

You've slept near her for the past week or so, but she never knew you were there. Now you look at her and cower a little bit; she was kind to you, but you don't trust her. She's an adult troll. For all you know, she might still want to kill and eat you.

Porrim notices and smiles. "Climb a tree if you want. I won't look. I know you won't believe me if I tell you you have nothing to fear from me, but I can at least try to make you feel safe."

You nod, and when she covers her eyes with her hand, you run as fast as you can and climb a tree that looks particularly inhospitable. You've slept in trees before, and you find a nice spot very quickly; without further ado, you collapse against the branch you're on and fall asleep instantly.

 

 

You wake as the sun sets and briefly wonder if it was all a dream. But your dreams are usually vague and hazy and terrifying, and what you remember is all too clear and good to be a dream.

You climb down from your tree and make your way to the place where Porrim and her wiggler were. Porrim is asleep (already?) and you come up hesitantly. Unlike before, the little wiggler is sleeping in her arms, curled up against her chest.

You sit down next to her and rifle through your bag, not bothering to be quiet. You find the rest of the supplies you packed and eat them for breakfast. It doesn't wake up Porrim, so when you are done eating, you saunter over to the animals you hunted earlier. Porrim has cut the animals and gutted them, but a lot of the work still needs to be done, so you get to work. You skin the animals carefully and then strip the meat from their bones. You nibble on the bones after you've stripped them; you're fairly sure Porrim isn't going to be interested in them.

Whenever you've had to preserve meat in the past, you usually salted and smoked it; however, you don't have any salt and you don't think Porrim does either, and you don't feel comfortable starting a fire out here, in the wild, without her permission. It's not just your life at stake here, but also that of the bright red wiggler lying next to her. You'd never let any harm come to him.

You spend a few minutes just wrapping the fresh meat in some leaves and then putting it into your bag, and then you just chew on the bones and wait for Porrim to wake up.

You're about to nod off yourself when she wakes, suddenly, without a warning. One moment, she's asleep, the next, she's bolt upright and scanning the area for danger.

"I've not heard anything," you tell her.

She turns and looks at you, mildly surprised. "You're still here," she says.

You offer a vague smile. "Of course I am."

She looks around. "Where's the food?"

You silently open your bag and take out the meat. She looks at you questioningly.

"I skinned the animals," you explain. "I didn't know how you preserve your meat, so I just put it in the bag."

Porrim smiles. "I usually just leave it out to dry in the sun. It would have taken too long to do all of that yesterday, but if you don't mind staying here another day, we could find a clearing and dry the meat?"

You nod. "Sounds good." You then turn your attention to the little wiggler, who's waking up now. Porrim frowns, then takes her bag and takes out some of the plant she gave him before and lets him suck on it.

"What is it?", you say.

"Howlbeast's milk," she says. "It's a plant that grows almost everywhere, and lusi use it as primary food for their grubs. I know enough about wigglers to raise him, I think."

You come closer and reach out hesitatingly. She looks at you, smiles, and nods, so you ruffle his hair lightly. He squeaks and scratches your hand with his tiny legs as if he was trying to grab it. You laugh and give it to him, and he curls himself around your hands, still sucking on the plant.

"What's his name?" you ask Porrim.

"Kankri," she says softly.

Kankri. You smile down at him. It fits him perfectly.

"Kankri," you whisper. He coos, digging his legs into your hand, looking right at you. You smile, as you always seem to when looking at him, and smooth back his hair.

"Can I stay with you?" you ask suddenly, barely aware that you were going to say anything until after the words were out. When you don't get an answer, you look up to find Porrim staring at you.

You think she's going to say no, and for the first time since you pupated, you genuinely come close to tears. "Please?"

"I..." She hesitates. "I don't see why you'd want to."

You bite your lip and fight back the tears. "My lusus is dead," you say. "I can look after myself, but I'd be lonely. And I - I love him. I want to stay with him. With you."

She looks at you for a long moment, then nods. "Okay then. But we'll be travelling a lot, and it'll be dangerous. You will have to work hard and you might not be up to some things."

"I can do anything for him," you say confidently, and you know it's true. Kankri coos softly, and your heart explodes with happiness - you're going to be with him, looking after him, watching him grow.

"Good," Porrim says. She's smiling too. "I don't exactly have a plan, because looking after him is a full time job, as I'm sure you're aware." You nod. "But with you around, it'll be easier, because someone can always look after him while the other hunts. We might even find a city. You can stay hidden with him and I can find work without having to worry about what happens to him. It's - actually, I'm glad you'll be staying."

You look up at her, your happiness intensifying even though you barely thought that was possible - you didn't think Porrim's approval mattered to you, but now that you have it, you feel like you could conquer the world.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> ... yes, I'll probably keep writing this.  
>  It most likely won't get as big as my other ancestor stories but I have a fair bit planned.
> 
> Please do leave comments, I love getting feedback!


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